Letters
by CrookshanksTheCat
Summary: This is a Fremione soulmate story. Set a month or two after the war, at around Christmas time. Hope you enjoy! It used to annoy me when people said that they were bad at summaries but now I understand - they're difficult. Also includes Harry/Ginny. (Title used to be Silent Night!)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So some people actually like my hockey story, which has motivated me. I'm putting out the next chapter of 'I Just Don't Play Quidditch' today, but I also couldn't find any finished soul mark Fremione stories so I'm writing one myself. If anyone likes it, I'll continue!**

Hermione stared at the mark on her wrist. She'd been trying to figure it out since she was eleven. The mark was like a tattoo. It had been there for years on end, occasionally bursting in colour and sometimes fading to a scary shade of grey. It was a firework. A single, colourful firework. It was a small red stick in a rocket shape. Sometimes it erupted into the brightest, most vibrant colours Hermione had ever seen, flying up into the air and exploding into beautiful reds and greens and yellows. Sometimes, the original vivid red colour would drain from it completely, and it would fade to pale grey, shrinking and fainting until it became a pile of greyish gloop, the shape of the firework just barely visible. When Hermione saw the mark looking like that, she felt undeniably sad. She just wanted to fall the floor and weep. When the firework exploded, sometimes it would make her feel happy and joyful; sometimes it would make her feel angry. Rage would pulse through her, her teeth would bare, her hair would fizz up with the static electricity she was building. It was as if lava was swirling through her stomach, and screaming, cursing, punching walls was the only thing that let it pour out. If she was confused, the firework would sit very, very still, as if not wanting to interact with anyone until she'd figured whatever she was confused by out. On the odd occasion, the fireworks would jump up and explode their rich, striking colours and halfway through the ecstasy they would fizz right out and the rocket-shaped stick would begin to dart around everywhere, giving her an uneasy feeling.

Fred never really concerned himself with the strange tattoo on his ankle. It was his soul mark, he knew; wizards and witches were born with them. They represented your soulmate's very favourite thing; so they could change a lot. Fred got his when he was eleven - so he knew that that was when he'd met his soulmate. The mark fizzed and gave off a tingly sensation whenever he was near his soulmate, but it always happened when he was around lots of people, so he could never be sure who it was. Fred's mark was always large - so that meant his soulmate had a big personality. A lot of the time it was a pile of haphazardly stacked books, always fizzing and sparking. Sometimes all the books would turn red at once (a menacing, dark red - it always looked scary when that happened) and the tower of books would begin to shake. At times, the books would continue to shake and wobble - they would flash dark red to bright red - and the tower fell angrily and the books hopped around hastily, giving off an absolutely furious vibe. Fred had never known books could look so _angry_ \- seething and furious, almost betrayed - but these ones did. At other points the books would turn rainbow colours in a very specific pattern, almost giving off happy, bouncy music. Sometimes the books would wobble and shake - but not in an angry way, in a scared way, and eventually they would come crashing down, breaking their little corner of composure. When Fred saw this he wanted to cry - it was such a sorrowful sight, especially thinking that this was a person feeling that much remorse. Sometimes his mark was a quill. When his soulmate seemed to be focussed, it would scratch along, moving swiftly and quickly. Sometimes it moved angrily, as though trying to dig into his skin. Occasionally it was a piece of new, perfect parchment, which seemed to almost sigh in contentment, moving back as though it was relaxing. Once it was even a big, fluffy cat, prowling around. It was weird how all these little symbols could show true emotions, even when they were inanimate objects. Fred was honestly surprised at how he could fit with such a seemingly studious person. Sure, Fred liked to read, but short and snappy adventure books, not the monstrosities on his ankle. And besides, he far prefered to have his own adventures.

 **i'm quite proud of that. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you do let me know by reviewing, or favouriting, or following or whatever - just something that'll give me a notification so that I know you like it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

 **Hi! So, I don't know who to put Ron with, or who to put George with. I'm quite a hardcore 'Hinny' shipper, but I don't know about Ron or George. I like George/Angelina, but I don't ship Ron with anyone but Hermione. So should I put one of them with Luna or something? Or should I do an OC? Or no relationship at all? Suggestions please, I have no idea!**

Hermione, of course, knew what the mark was. She was eleven when she got it - she was quite sure. She'd been going around all the compartments trying to find Neville's toad, and when she got back to Neville it was on her wrist. She'd immediately confronted Neville, who had gasped told her what it was.

"I don't have mine yet," he said in awe. "You must have met someone on the train who you're going to marry one day!" At this, Hermione had scoffed.

"Yes, right, Neville," she laughed. "I seriously doubt that. Maybe I met someone on the platform - it's very unlikely that it'll be someone from school. Did you know, only two percent of high school relationships last?"

After that, the mark had begun to go through its different emotions, and that was when Hermione became really interested and confused. She had spent a lot of time in the library researching it. She knew exactly how she wanted to meet her soulmate. Shen had it all planned out in her head. They'd be at a library, both deep in thought as they wondered the thousands of books, looking for the best story. They'd go to the same shelf, reach for the same book… their hands would touch briefly and her heart would flutter… she'd look into a pair of beautiful eyes… yes, it would be perfect.

As she stared at her mark, sat on the sofa at the local library, she pondered this, deciding that that was the most excellent scenario. She stood up apathetically, gracefully gliding over to the many aisles of books on the endless shelves, absentmindedly trailing her fingers along the spines as she went. Hermione was very busy adding the little details to her daydream to make it flawless, and that's why she blushed so hard when she inattentively reached for a book on soulmates and touched someone else's hand. She turned to look at the person, and she found herself staring into the azure blue eyes of Fred Weasley.

 _"Haha! That's your soulmate! It's happening all perfectly!"_ said an irritating voice in her head.

 _"No, it's not. No, he's not. This is purely coincidence,"_ she scolded it back.

 _"Hermione Granger, you hate coincidences."_

Hermione scowled and quickly looked back at Fred. "Hello," she said simply.

"Hiya, Granger," Fred said politely back.

"What are you doing here? You don't _read._ "

"Oh, I like to read - just fiction. And not great big advanced books like the ones you lug around," answered Fred cheerfully. Both of them still had their hands on the book. Hermione pulled it down suddenly and put it into her arms.

"Bye," she said. She smiled at him and walked off. Fred stood staring at her. His ankle was playing up.

"Hey, Granger!" he whisper-shouted, bounding after her. "Why're you researching soulmates?"

"I want to know more about them," she told him. "Why are you researching soulmates? Found yours?" Fred noticed that she was scratching her wrist, which was covered by her sleeve. He decided not to jump to conclusions - he didn't even know that her soulmark was on her wrist.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

 **Thank you to everyone that reviewed! It's so nice to be part of a community, and the fanfiction one is just as good as any. I'm trying to separate my work into paragraphs more, as I do appreciate that that's a bit of an issue. And I definitely understand the points made on past, present and future tense. My writing is at an all-time low at the moment, because school is focusing on maths and not on literacy. I'm turning to fanfiction for help and practice and the constructive criticism is very helpful. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story.**

Fred wanted to shake himself. He had just told himself not to jump to a conclusion about Hermione Granger's soulmark! Why he was actually considering being Hermione's soulmate he'd never know. He began to answer Hermione's question when a thought crossed his mind.

 _What if she is your soulmate?_

Fred almost snorted. That thought had crossed his mind many a time, following him about around every girl he met. He never really put too much thought into who his soulmate was, but that wasn't to say he didn't wonder. He had wondered about _hundreds_ of girls before, pondering them, asking himself if they were his soulmate.

But Hermione Granger?

He had nothing in common with her. For one example, she wanted to know who her soulmate was. She researched it, read every book she could get her hands on about it, planned it all out, looked into who she was mostly likely to be paired with… Hermione liked to _know_ things. She liked to know things for the sake of knowing them. She liked to have every thought in her mind piled into little sections of composure, knowing where each and every memory was, every little fact, little thing… because they seemed to comfort her.

Fred knew she'd been scarred by the war. She grew up too fast, and had a pretty messed up childhood. Fred's idea was that she liked to know as much as she could, so she could have more control. She wanted control over her life. She didn't want to be scared anymore, always tense and on the edge, the air around her thick with anticipation. Hermione wanted to know what would has happen next, so that she could plan her life, and cover up the awfulness of her past. Because although it looked like some sort of magical adventure, Hermione Granger's life was not a fairy tale; it was a horror story.

Fred case back down to Earth with a bump when he found himself answering Hermione's question.

"What? 'Course not. But mind you, I'm getting a bit impatient about it, now that George has gone and found Angelina. That's why I want the book, by the way - for George. Why do _you_ want it?"

Hermione looked at him and sighed.

"Fine then - you take it. I've already read it, anyway," she told him politely. She took four more thick books off the shelf below the one she and Fred had been looking at, and walked away to her little corner in the library.

Five minutes later, Fred stalked after her, and saw her on her couch, about five books open in a semi-circle around her on the coffee table in front of the couch. Three two-foot tall stacks of books were beside her, balanced precariously on the arm of the couch. Hermione took a book off the top of it, opened it at a bookmarked page and picked up a purple, open notebook laying beside her, scribbling in it furiously. She looked very focussed and slightly angry as she scanned the pages of the big, leather bound books, hastily taking notes every now and again.

Fred was in awe.

That was insane. Fred knew she studied religiously and regularly like her life depended on it, but he had never seen her at it. She was totally in her comfort zone, swiftly moving from one page to another, flipping through books and shifting her position on the couch every so often to become more comfortable. Books surrounded her everywhere, some forgotten on the floor, some sprawled open across the sofa, some strewn across the coffee table.

Fred began to get the most enormous itch on his leg, tickling and tingling so much that he thought it was some sort of rash for a second.

He ran to the other end of the library, hundreds of dusty old bookshelves separating him and Hermione. He quickly sat down and pulled his trouser cuff up, revealing his soulmark.

Fred had never seen it like this before. Instead of the pile of books it normally was, it was a single very big, very heavy looking book. It was in. It was in colours of the richest purple, beautifully shiny and neat. The pages were flicking very very fast, back and forth, and Feed could almost hear the pages turning in his ears. The fuchsia book's pages were covered in small text and in many places, notes made up of small, indistinguishable handwriting, loopy and messy, obviously sloppily and hastily written.

Fred ran as fast and as far as he could out of the library.

 **Yay! I'm proud of that one. I'm trying to make chapters longer but it is currently eight minutes past eleven and I am a tired child with school tomorrow so I'm leaving it there. Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was going to but there was an issue with Document Manager and I ended up posting a chapter that was already up.**

Fred sat down at the table in the Burrow. Bill and Charlie and George sat opposite him, brooding. Fred had wanted to speak to them about Hermione as he was shaken and nervous about the whole thing. He didn't know whether he'd met his soulmate or not - he felt too young! The war had ended only a month ago and he had nearly died. He'd nearly become one of those people being talked about constantly in the media - "They died so young, such a tragedy" - the poor people (mostly children) who had battled and fought and died at such _young_ age. It made Fred realize just how treacherous it'd been. It also made him realize just how youthful he was. He had his whole life ahead of him. Fred had plenty of time to mess around before settling. Of course, he knew he wanted a big family _eventually_. He wanted to be the most fun dad, ever and make his kid's lives interesting and full of fun! He wanted to pass on his pranks to the next generation! He wanted a huge family and a household full of mischief and laughter. That way, he could hopefully make more people smile. He'd teach his children to be the best people they could. _They'd_ want to make people smile! Fred wanted to pass on the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes legacy and do some good in the world.

"So what's up, Fred?" Bill asked cheerfully.

"What're your soulmarks?"

"Oh. It changes a lot. It's Fleur's wand sometimes. It's pretty and she really likes it. Sometimes it's a pink rose, Fleur really loves those. Um… a map of the world… a spider web. A really elegant one with dewdrops and things - I'm pretty sure that represents nature. A few times it was ballet shoes… romantic notions. Lots of things," Bill shrugged.

"Mine's ginger or sometimes a broomstick or fire or other stuff," said George

Charlie looked surprised.

"It's, um… poppies. Untied shoelaces. Sometimes graffiti, things like splatters of paint. A sunrise. That's all the things I remember. Why?"

"Well… I think that I've found my soulmate."

"Really?"

Charlie and Bill smiled at him eagerly.

"Who?"

"Well… I think… I don't know… I think…"

"Who?"

"I think it's Granger."

Charlie, Bill and George grinned in surprise.

"No, it's not! How do you know?" George laughed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure my soulmark does that tickly thing when I'm with her and I was at the library with her yesterday… My soulmark's usually a quill and parchment or books. And I saw her today in the library. She was studying and she looked so… so…" Fred gestured wildly with his hands, struggling to find the right words. "So in her element. It was insane, quite - quite brilliant really. I was surprised and my ankle was all itchy. It was a big book that was going insane - the pages were flipping everywhere. It was weird. And she was scratching her wrist too."

"Is her soulmate on her wrist?" asked George, wrinkling his nose disbelievingly.

"It is, actually," said Charlie, surprising them. "Me and 'Mione are very good friends, actually. I asked her about it once - Ron wanted to know. He was convinced that he and Hermione were soulmates - still is - but she showed me her soulmark and it was a rocket/firework thing."

"And that could be right!" exclaimed Bill excitedly. "Is your soulmark usually a big crazy book?"

"No," replied Fred. "A stack of books or a quill or parchment or a cat."

"Yes! When you see your soulmate show off your soulmark favourite things your mark becomes a more apparent and obvious version of the previous one because your soulmate is feeling passionate about something!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thank you all so much for all the reviews and favourites and things! It's fantastic.**

Fred strode out of the Burrow. He was determined to come off confident and not at all nervous - though he was.

George, Bill and Charlie had convinced him to go and speak to Hermione. Fred was almost one hundred percent sure that she had no clue that Fred was her soulmate.

Fred winced at the thought. He had barely ever spoken to Hermione and when he had, he'd relentlessly teased her and she had scared him half to death. She never approved of his and George's antics, their constant pranks, their testing of products on first-years… okay, even Fred had to admit that testing their inventions on the little ones was a bit mean. _Hermione_ had definitely thought so. Fred remembered her digging into him:

"You are _not_ allowed to do that! That's simply awful! Do you even have antidotes? You don't even have _antidotes_! What if something _serious_ happened?"

Fred chuckled remembering this. She had honestly been terrifying, but at the time Fred really couldn't stand her, nor could George. She just didn't understand. Testing products on first-years was essential; they were the only ones stupid enough to agree. And besides, they let the children know what they were messing with - they knew the risk, and they took it anyway.

Fred sighed worriedly as he disapparated. He was already nervous and the compression of his lungs through the disapparation was not helping in the slightest. He arrived and stared up at Hermione's apartment anxiously. He pressed the buzzer apprehensively. Fred sighed, tense, running his fingers through his hair. He hadn't sent word that he was coming beforehand, and so, of course, there was a chance that Hermione wasn't in; he was ashamed to admit that he rather hoped that this was the case. He hoped in vain, though, as a moment later he heard hasty footsteps running down a staircase.

Harry laughed. He hadn't spoken to Hermione in such a long time; he was looking after Teddy so frequently now, and Ginny was often at work so he snagged any chance he got to spend time with _her_ , and of course, there was him meeting Ron each Wednesday, and work. It was lovely to be catching up with her now, at her flat. He was helping her sort out her new bookshelf and _Merlin_ did she have a lot of books. Even with this new bookshelf, there were books strewn across her flat, every inch covered. However, it was very fun and they were having an interesting and amusing conversation

She wanted the books in alphabetical order, and not being one to do things by half, she had come up with three different strategies to alphabetize: bubble sort, insertion sort, and quicksort.

Harry was delving into insertion sort when suddenly there was a buzz. Someone was at the door.

"Who's that?" Harry asked confusedly. Hermione looked just as bewildered.

"Not sure," she replied. "Can you get it, Harry? I'll forget my place, and I have to squeeze this book in - it's really not cooperating-"

"Okay," said Harry, watching Hermione try to squish a book into place and failing. Her brow furrowed, and she said, "Go!" Harry went.

He ran down the stairs, flipping his messy hair out of his eyes on the way. He pulled open the door and was surprised to see one of the Weasley twins.

"Fred? George? Fred…?"

"Yup - it's Fred. Um… is Hermione here?"

Harry frowned. Since when did Fred call Hermione by her first name? It was always Granger - sometimes Hermy, which she had expressed a great distaste and loathing for - but mostly Granger.

"Yeah, she's here…" Harry said suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

Fred grinned. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

Harry grimaced. Fred sounded like Malfoy.

"I and Hermione are hanging out, or whatever. I'm helping her arrange her bookshelf."

"Wow, sounds like some exciting friend activities. I can go, you know, if you don't want…."

Suddenly there was a loud crash coming from upstairs and a scared squeal.

"What was that?!" asked Fred, but Harry was already halfway up the stairs. Fred sighed and followed in hot pursuit.

Harry ran into Hermione's room and saw a chaotic sight. The new, wooden bookshelf she had bought and assembled a week or so prior was in a heap on the floor. Hermione's precious books were all around the room, in colourful piles, many of their shiny new spines now broken. Hermione was on the bed, shaking in shock and looking terribly angry.

"No!" she wailed. "Why did I _do_ that? Why am I so awfully _stupid_?!" Hermione seemed to be fuming. "Ugh!" she shouted, sighing furiously. "Why? And look, all my books are broken! _And_ my bookshelf! I assembled it all the muggle way as well! And Harry and I have been sorting through those for _ages_!" She went to gesture around her room, but her right wrist just flopped, and Hermione cried out in pain.

"Oh, 'Mione, seems as though your books aren't the only thing that's broken," Harry said sympathetically. "Your wrist is in a right state."

But Hermione wasn't listening.

"What's he doing here?" she seethed. "I didn't need anyone here to see me humiliate myself."

"Let me see your wrist, Hermione," Harry said. He walked to Hermione and pulled up her sleeve. That's when he saw her soulmark. It was very, very still, flashing a lot of different shades of red. Suddenly it erupted and burst into furious colours of crimson and maroon, and then went very, very still again.

" _FRED?_ "


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, so I just changed the name of this story to 'Letters' because this story is going a kind of different way from what I originally decided. Just so you know. Also, we are going to pretend that the Battle of Hogwarts didn't happen in May but in late October/early November for the sake of the storyline.

Fred sat down at his small desk in his bedroom and scribbled his note.

After yelling 'FRED!' for some unknown reason, Harry had looked uncomfortable told the two that he needed to go, and Fred had followed in hot pursuit, blatantly lying to Hermione and telling her that he had come for Harry. Fred was uncomfortable with the whole thing because it made him nervous. He was never nervous! He was confident, the cocky, reckless and daring, and now he was suddenly the anxious and nervous? It just didn't suit him.

He also wasn't pleased to admit that Granger made him nervous. It just seemed strange. He had never shown that much of an interest in Hermione in the first place, but to be told that she was probably his soulmate? It was, as Hermione would put it, absurd.

Dear Hermione, he wrote.

Nope, he thought. Let's change that.

Hermione,

I think I'd like to speak to you about something. Can I meet you somewhere at some point? I mean, to talk to you seriously. Alone and stuff. Not with Harry or Ron or George or anything.

Best, Fred

Fred stared in disgust. Nope! No! He sighed. Why did he have to be just about illiterate? He sighed again and left for the Burrow with George.

"Come on, everyone! Round the tree, let's decorate!"

Mrs Weasley's excited voice rang around the room. Hermione looked up from her book and sighed. She was too tired for this.

Luckily she hadn't broken her wrist, but it had been excruciatingly painful, especially when Harry had left. She didn't know why, but when Fred had left awkwardly the pain had subsided very quickly - and Hermione knew why.

Fred was her soulmate.

She knew it. She knew all the signs, all the biology, all the magic; she knew exactly how it worked. And last year, she had confirmed it. That was when she saw the joke shop.

When she had first walked into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, saw the bright lights, the radical colours, the colourful chaos, and Fred in the middle of it all, her wrist had become so itchy that it began to hurt. She had slipped away and looked at her soulmark, which was exploding. Not just like it normally did, though; bigger, crazier, more vivid - a totally extraordinary sight. She had been in awe, to be perfectly honest. The fireworks slid all the way up her arm, exploding into rich, eye-catching colours. Her mark was flamboyant and lively, and totally beautiful. She had slipped back to join Ginny, Harry and Ron again, and was absolutely sure that it was Fred when he'd helped her with her bruise from his and George's punching telescope. However, when she left the store she had convinced herself that she'd been imagining things, that it wasn't at all anything to do with soulmarks. She had almost ignored it, tried so hard to live on without it bothering her. But it kept coming back. Every so often it would jump into her mind, repeat and yell in her ears. She was determined to ignore it, simply because it was easy. Usually, Hermione wasn't one to take the easy way out but this was too much. It was hard. She was never one for romance; she didn't understand it, didn't see the point. And Hermione hated not understanding things almost as much as she hated being wrong about things. So, she tried hard to ignore the sneaky little voice in her head.

Even so, she had eventually made herself write a half-hearted letter to Fred to try and arrange a time to explain. She wanted to say she wrote it with every intention of sending it to him - but, to be perfectly honest… that was a lie.

Dear Fred,

I really must speak to about something. It's ever so important. Can I meet you somewhere sometime?

Yours truly,

Hermione.

Oh no. No way. He'd laugh, George would tease, they'd tell everyone. Hermione could hear them now: Ooooh, looks like Freddie's got an admirer! The worst thing was, he would ignore the letter - say no.

Hermione dragged herself off the couch and, yawning, grabbed her wand and began to move the decorations around. She put up some pretty red sparkly ones that reminded her of her mother's old ornaments. She thought wistfully of the old Decembers where she and her parents would gather in the lounge, a warm fire roaring in the fireplace, and decorate their old fake tree. Hermione remembered that tree vividly. Her parents never liked the thought of pine needles all over their pristine floor, so each year her father would go up into the attic and lug down a tree. They'd get out two big cardboard boxes full to the brim with decorations, and put them all on the tree haphazardly until the tree looked absolutely covered in bright colours of crimson, emerald, magenta. It looked messy, but Hermione did it with her family, and that made it seem like the most beautiful thing in the world. She felt tears prick in her eyes as she continued decorating.

Hermione put down her wand and began to pick up ornaments and put them on the big tree the muggle way. Ron came closer to her.

"Hey, Hermione. I haven't seen you in a while. What's up?"

Hermione smiled at him.

"Hello, Ron. I'm good. Just tired. How are you?"

"Oh. I'm good. Oh, hello, Harry."

For Harry had sauntered over, a huge crimson pile of shiny tinsel piled on top of his hands.

"Hey." He nodded at Hermione. "How's the bookshelf reconstruction going?"

"Fine. I did it the magic way this time; far easier," Hermione replied.

"Ron, did you hear about what happened to Hermione's bookshelf the other day?"

Harry and Hermione went on to tell Ron about the catastrophe, how Hermione had jumped onto the bed in fear, how Harry had burst through the door, how the books had gone flying. Hermione and Harry were able to laugh it off now, and Hermione finally felt contented; her lack of sleep and nervousness about Fred had taken quite a toll on her that morning.

"Hey, 'Mione, why aren't you using your wand?"

"I just prefer to do it the muggle way. It reminds me of my childhood."

Ron smiled sadly. Suddenly, he shoved his wand down his sleeve in one swift movement and started to help Hermione the muggle way. Harry shrugged and did the same. They all continued their amusing conversation.

Hermione smiled. She really was lucky to have such wonderful friends.

A/N

Thanks for all these reviews! Wow. And just to let you know, I'm really sorry I reposted the third chapter! Oops. And, by the way, it's my birthday! Wanna know something weird? _All_ my gifts were Harry Potter related. Apart from one - Journal 3 from Gravity Falls. But still! I love it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**

 **Thanks for all these reviews! Wow. And just to let you know, I'm really sorry I reposted the third chapter! Oops.**

Fred was kind of in shock. He'd never really felt something like this before.

He'd come down to the Burrow with George kind of late and was greeted with a happy sight. Everyone was chatting and decorating the tree. Of course, he knew that Hermione would be there, and had been mentally preparing for it. He'd put on a confident grin and braced himself for extreme levels of awkwardness. But, thankfully, she was preoccupied with Ron and Harry.

Well.

'Thankfully' was one way to put it.

Because what Fred felt wasn't relief.

It was a surge of jealousy.

Fred was extremely surprised. He'd never really felt that… that much envy. He just saw Hermione reach up, smiling, to hug Ron, and he felt… jealous. So jealous and _angry_. He knew nothing was going on with Hermione and Ron; everyone did. They'd established that a long time ago. So why was he so annoyed at Ron for hugging her? Fred was confused. He felt almost… hurt. Betrayed. So much feeling was coming over him, engulfing him - overwhelming him. He couldn't take it. A tight feeling came over his chest, his face went red, he suddenly felt hot and bothered.

Running straight upstairs, he flopped on his bed and breathed hard. His face screwed up; he almost cried. Not because of Hermione hugging Ron, but because of the confusion. Why did he feel this overwhelming awfulness because of Hermione? Why couldn't he pluck up the courage and ask her out? _Why was he being so pathetic?_

"Fred?" he heard a voice call. He sniffed and sat up, wiping his threatening-to-spill tears clear away.

"Hey, George."  
"What's up, mate? Why did you just take off?"  
"I just… George, you know that I tell you everything, but I'm not very good at spilling my feelings. I'll tell you later. It's...hard to explain. Can you… just tell everyone that I'll be down in a second, okay?"

"Freddie…"

" _Promise_ I'll tell you later, alright? At the apartment."

"Okay, Fred. Good. See you later."

George walked doubtfully down the stairs and Fred groaned, running his fingers through his hair.

He'd have to try again.

 _Hey Hermione,_

 _Fred here. I really need to talk to you about something as soon as possible. It's important. You might think that this is a joke or something, but I honestly need to meet with you privately at some point. I'm free on weekdays at 6 o'clock onwards, and on weekends 4. Sometime then?_

 _Yours truly,_

 _Fred_

No way!  
Fred tore up the letter in frustration. _No, no, no!_ This was something around the twelfth time he'd completely and utterly failed at writing this damned letter! The one before this was particularly bad:

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _How are you?_

 _I'd like to meet with some point this week. Is that okay?_

 _Please reply ASAP._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Fred_

Fred was NEVER going to get this done. Sigh…

 **My gosh, it's been ages since I've updated this! Thanks for all the positivity! It's so awesome. This is short, but I wanted to get it out as soon as I could. I'll try to update more now! Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Dear Hermione,

Listen, I need to talk to you seriously. As soon as I can. Please. It isn't a joke.

Let's arrange a time?

-Fred

Nope, nope, nope, NO!

Why couldn't he get it? This was the twelfth failed attempt at writing a letter today and things were just getting more and more awkward between Hermione and him. Well, maybe. He couldn't tell anymore. Perhaps he was just paranoid? He had to admit, recently he'd been studying her every move whenever he saw her - that is, each weekend for dinner at the Burrow. He was becoming a bit desperate. Bit sad really-

No! Fred snapped himself out of it. Fred Weasley didn't get desperate over girls, girls got desperate over the him. Maybe that was why Fred was so nervous about this. It was so different, to get bashful and quiet round a girl-

No! Fred Weasley didn't get nervous around girls! Fred Weasley didn't get nervous at all! He was a cocky, funny legend of a bachelor and everyone knew it. Right?

But other people were noticing too. George would constantly tease him about it. It was hilarious to him, to come home and find that the wastepaper bin was overflowing. Picking up the crumpled bits of parchment and reading them aloud was absolutely hysterical to him.

"Dear Granger, what's up, meet me sometime, it's not a joke, Fred." And then came the laughter. He practically rolled around on the ground laughing.

"Yes, absolutely corking, I'm sure," muttered Fred under his breath as George guffawed.

"Sorry, mate," George gasped. "It's just so desperate! You're so bad at this. Honestly."

"Like you could do better? You've not found your soulmate!"

George looked uncomfortable.

There was a silence.

Fred broke it.

"When were you planning on telling me?"

"I wasn't-"

"Why not-"

"I didn't-"

"Course you didn't, you great-"

"No, honestly-"

"Liar-"

"Am not-"

"Did too-"

"That doesn't make any-"

"It does make sense-"

"Does not-"

"Does too-"

"Liar-"

"Granger's rubbing off on you-"

"I don't-"

"You're in denial-"

"Dunno what that means-"

"Yeah you do-"

"No-"

"Why're you fussing about grammar and-"

"Am not-"

"What are you doing then-"

"Telling you you don't make sen-"

"I didn't find my soul-"

"Why are we back here-"

"I'm too tired for this!"

Dear Fred,

I'd like to arrange a time for us to meet alone at some point to speak. Is that alright?

Yours, Hermione Granger

Ugh. Hermione read over the letter again, disgusted. Of course this wouldn't work! She sounded far too pompous. He'd hate her already. Maybe this was stupid. They couldn't be soulmates. They simply couldn't. If they couldn't connect enough to even send a letter, how were they supposed to get together and get married? It was stupid. Of course it was. Hermione sighed. She should focus. On her work. Not on Fred, she scolded herself. Well, she tried. It was hard to be angry when Fred was on her mind. He was so happy, and carefree. She admired that about him. Among other things, like - ugh. Shut up. Hermione rolled her eyes at herself. She crumpled up the letter in frustration and threw it in the bin, and left the room.

A/N

Okay, super short filler, sorry! Bigger thing coming up next chapter; some actual plot development. This is rubbish, sorry.I've decided to respond to reviews individually a bit more now, because I was recently rereading "Hermione Granger and the Incredible Idiots Who Call Themselves Men", and the author of that did it so I want to as well!

Raven that flies at night: I've received multiple reviews from you, and they're all lovely! Thank you! The tip on the grammatical errors in the first chapter were taken into account :)

alucardgal: okay, I shall continue! Thanks!

Camila Anna: thank you! I love being told my stories are cute, they're so fluffy and they're supposed to be - I'm glad they give off that vibe! (I loathe that word but I can't think of a synonym)

Red Garden Gnome: Thank you! Like the previous comment about grammar and paragraphs n stuff, this was taken into account :)

LupaNymeria: lol, you're probably right. I'll try to keep my focus on Fred and Hermione :-)

JayBat: lol, I agree. I think I shall have to have him send it soon! But there might be a little more waiting…

Guest (Weasley): thank you! It's coming out right now!

Guest (anonymous): thank you! The Freddie thing was used I think once or twice in the books, actually. I shall have to research it. But I just use it because I think it's cute and loads of other people use it in fics :)

ninaverhoeven86: thank you, I'm glad!

sweet.BitterKH: thanks!

Guest: it's not bad at all that you laughed with evil glee! I'm so happy to see that my story is getting a reaction from people; I believe that a good story should make you feel something.

dianaanne: a) you reviewed a while back, so I've already answered in the story - yes, Ron's okay. b) I SO HOPE YOUR NAME REFERS TO ANNE WITH AN E BCUZ I LIVE FOR THAT SERIES

filmdork: hmm, never heard of a Charlie/Luna pairing before. I might end up just putting Charlie with an OC, because I'm terrible at writing Luna. But I think the George idea is perfect: I'm thinking Angelina Johnson?

Beetle126: thanks very much!

Guest (a different one, I assume? If you're going to keep reviewing, leave like a random initial or a code name or something at the start so I know who you are :) if you want): it's so nice of you to say that you enjoyed rereading my stupidly duplicated chapter! Thank you!

Mlle Stilinski: thanks! I love the soulmate idea too, I couldn't find a good, completed fremione one so I wrote one myself. Thanks for telling me about the duplicate. Fremionely, me :)

Guest (again, if you want leave some kind of identity so I know who you are :-): oh, I didn't mean for Hermione to be in the same year as them! It must have been a mistake. I can't be bothered to look right now, but just, ummm… ignore that! Whoops! And also, thanks ever so much for your kind words :)

If I missed anyone out, I'm very sorry :(


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